Chapter 12

Far from the smoldering wreckage was the rest of the Crucis Sentinels at the western part of the campus. They had word that a 7-foot monster broke into a research facility. Single file and in a straight line, they sprinted up the steps and went to the third floor.

Delta Crucis pulled out her Aethereal-powered Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle and led the pursuit as they flanked on the left side of the hallway in a straight line. They made their way to the broken door of the research facility. Delta and Alpha Crucis took coverage of the left side of the door, while Gamma and Epsilon Crucis took coverage on the right.

Alpha Crucis being the strongest when it comes to spiritual awareness took a deep breath and meditate, focusing on any signs of life. Five seconds later, she found none. The room was empty.

“All clear,” Alpha Crucis confirmed as the group eased up and went inside. The chemical lab looks like a category four hurricane went through and tore this place apart. Broken glass was everywhere, flipped over chairs, desks were broken in half, most of the shelves that were ruffled and ultimately went into and computers that were smashed into bits.

“Well, this looks like our living room when the New Zealand All Blacks won the Rugby championship back in the day,” Epsilon Crucis ribbed.

“Quick question: of all the chemistry labs and research facilities that a ruthless killing machine could go into, why in the world with he or she goes to this one?” Alpha Crucis questioned.

“Medicine. The Lycanthrope was looking for medicine,” Gamma Crucis giving her opinion as she collected a clump of dander off the broken table. She picked it up with some tweezers and put it into a small container.

Epsilon Crucis made her way to the opiate cabinet. Oddly enough, it was untouched. “I know one thing. That big old wolf wasn’t looking to get high. There is a shit ton of oxy in here. Not a scratch.”

“That’s not a rarity at all,” Alpha Crucis said. Almost every university has opiates in their medical facilities. They also have even harder drugs like cocaine and oxycodone.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Epsilon Crucis said in disbelief.

Alpha Crucis nodded. “You wouldn’t believe. But all of it is for study.”

“Shit, recreational study,” Epsilon Crucis heckled.

Delta Crucis was taking pictures of evidence on her smartphone. “Have any of you seen, Beta?”

“She sent me a message. She was dealing with a few those girls from the Oleander Syndicate in the northern part of the campus,” Alpha Crucis announced.

Of all the people who would try to step in on their mission, it just had to be the Oleander Syndicate. Delta Crucis sources were accurate after all. Even for a Crucis Sentinel, dealing with the inner circle of the Oleander Syndicate is an un-envious task and a solemn undertaking to accomplish. If the Oleander Syndicate is here, that means they too are in great danger.

Delta Crucis is naturally frightened about the current discovery, “Those psychos are here?! W-who showed up?! Testament!? Angel of Death?! It must be Artemis! A-after all, she has some lycanthrope blood in her--”

“About three wolf kemonomimi so far?” Alpha Crucis clarified. After hearing the good news, Delta Crucis’ dread quickly turned into relief and disgust.

Grandmaster Dolph Eichner made some highly questionable decisions while being the leader of the Oleander Syndicate. One of them has not only become a huge eyesore of the entire organization but has become a meme.

He financially invested in a group of females who are all kemonomimi and can control the Nether. Even though they deem themselves as the Nether Elite, they are a complete joke. To be quite honest, they do more harm than good.

They were supposed to be an answer to Simone Muertes and the Apex Predators, but the Nether Elite are not even in their league. And they are not a threat to the Crux Nexus, including the Crucis Sentinels who are far more “elite” than those scantily clad phonies.

“Eichner sent out his B team? Good grief… Let me guess, Silvestri was there stomping over her own tits again? More like the ‘Double D’ Team,” Epsilon Crucis joked as Gamma and Delta Crucis laughed. Miraculously enough, she even got a chuckle out of Alpha Crucis. However, she wanted nobody to see it.

The Oleander Syndicate was a primary threat to the Crux Nexus for almost a century. That was because of the late Grandmaster Sudbina Novak’s unrelenting tenacity of being better than the Nexus, proving anything that those “Angel riding fairies” can do, we can well. Because of the previous Grandmaster's death, a death even now has been kept secret from everyone, the morality of the Syndicate slowly eroded to chaos.

Even now with their recent Grandmaster and his new policies he is trying to enforce over the years, most of their allies have deemed him soft and unworthy of being the Grandmaster of not only the Oleander Syndicate but the leader of the Dark Nebula Coalition.

This was one of the few reasons that there is an impending civil war within the coalition. Which left the Crux Nexus to refocus on what is essential themselves, to make sure nobody gets caught in the crossfire in this silly war between these internal factions.

“All jokes aside, I told Beta to meet up with us back home,” Alpha Crucis said.

“I wonder if the camera drones worked. Hopefully, we got some video,” Gamma Crucis mentioned, going through some papers.

“Using enemy equipment, I don’t agree with that at all. But if it is safe to--” Alpha Crucis was about to finish her thought, but she sensed another aura. It wasn’t Beta Crucis. It was somebody just as powerful. Fortunately, the others sensed that too.

Alpha Crucis unsheathes her Sabre Rapière, Epsilon and Gamma Crucis unsheathes their hiltless katanas, and Delta Crucis cocks her assault rifle. They all took cover and were prepared to fight.

“Show yourself!” Alpha Crucis demanded.

Oddly enough, a voluptuous muscular wolf girl emerged from the entrance with her hands up. The wolf girl was small and had long jet-black hair and purple eyes that illuminated in the dark. She was wearing a tank top with shorts.

She even spoke to the four, calmly and coolly, “no need for any weapons or any fighting either. I just came here to do a job.”

Not actually buying it, the Crucis Sentinels did not disarm themselves. However, they approached the wolf kemonomimi with caution.

“Who are you?” Alpha Crucis demanded.

“Ayeka Junichi, senior agent of the Oleander Syndicate,” the wolf kemonomimi identified.

“Bullshit. You hunt down Nether-users and complete psychos for profit,” Epsilon Crucis differed.

“Check her!” Alpha Crucis ordered as Epsilon Crucis patted Ayeka down for contraband or weapons. Gamma and Delta Crucis covered her.

“She’s clean, chief,” Epsilon Crucis confirmed finding only her wallet. She gave it to Alpha Crucis. As she opened the wallet, there was a Japanese identification card. Fortunately for Alpha Crucis, she is fluent in Japanese. The wolf kemonomimi was indeed telling the truth.

“Hands down,” Alpha Crucis ordered as Ayeka relaxed. “It’s not every day an ‘agent’ of the Oleander Syndicate wants to cooperate so easily,” Alpha Crucis handed Ayeka back her ID Card.

“That is because I don’t have any quarrel with you,” Ayeka assured. “Grandmaster Eichner brought us here to hunt down a werewolf or a monster.” Ayeka walked around the research facility. The Crucis Sentinels was still on their guard, knowing at any time Ayeka can strike.

Ayeka looked at the claw marks on the desks and cabinets, “they really did a huge bang-up job. Very convincing.”

“What you mean, convincing?” Epsilon Crucis interrogated. This made Ayeka smile.

“I thought you didn’t trust me,” she teased. Hearing that, made Epsilon Crucis roll her eyes.

Gamma Crucis knew Ayeka was the enemy, but she wasn’t here to fight them or to even muscle in on their mission, and she figured that out for herself, “Miss Junichi, we do appreciate you cooperating with us. But what do you really mean by being very convincing?”

“It was evident that our monster wanted something from this room. Yeah, he or she destroyed this place. But I believe it was a cover for something far more valuable,” Ayeka put together.

“Information,” Alpha Crucis answered correctly.

“The monster didn’t really care about the drugs. Like you said before there are many facilities just like this one. Why was this one hit way too hard? Symbolism,” Ayeka explained.

“Yeah, we already figured that out?” Delta Crucis said.

Ayeka shrugged her shoulders, “when you do see the video footage from the camera drones you stole from Alastair, you’ll see for yourself. By the looks of things, our monster is not as brainless as everyone thinks, which makes it even more dangerous. And if I were you, I would come back here in the middle of the day and find out who runs this facility. Maybe then, you’ll find some connections. Good evening.”

Ayeka walked out other room without incident, leaving the Crucis Sentinels a bit stunned and not because of her welcoming attitude. According to their information, Ayeka Junichi shouldn’t even be a member of the Oleander Syndicate anymore.

In fact, she was one of the few defectors who left the Syndicate years ago. Oddly enough, she returned and is now part of the Nether Elite. With this latest edition, maybe now that particular group has a chance for legitimacy.

“Yeah, that’s right. You better walk away! Have a good evening, my ass…” Epsilon Crucis boasted.

“Good lord. Dolph sure loves his wolf girls with a lot of meat on their bones…” Delta Crucis mocked as her stomach was turning into knots. “So, Junebug is back in the Syndicate… This is gonna fucking suck…”

Alpha Crucis was thinking over what Ayeka just said. To her admittance, she was going to regret she was about to say next, “she’s right, you know…”

“Oh, come on!” Epsilon Crucis whines.

“Look at all the computers and the piles of paper. The opiate cabinet has been untouched the entire time. It was obvious somebody was looking for information. Afterward, they made sure that no one would ever try to link or copy such information. This must be an inside job. Somebody who have or had worked here in this facility,” Alpha Crucis explained.

“So, you gonna put on your teacher’s assistant suit on again?” Epsilon Crucis heckled.

“I do have to make appearances for the time being. And for the time being, you all will have to go to class,” Alpha Crucis said with a cocky smile. This made Epsilon Crucis burst out with laughter.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be up bright and early.”

If only Epsilon Crucis knew just how serious her leader was…